IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURTFOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIAUNITED STATES OF AMERICA))v.)Criminal No. 09-276 (PLF))STEWART DAVID NOZETTE,))Defendant.))GOVERNMENT’S MEMORANDUM IN AID OF SENTENCING
Defendant Stewart David Nozette sought to sell some of America’s most closely guardedsecrets – including information directly concerning satellites classified as Top Secret/SCI – to a person he believed was an agent for a foreign intelligence organization. His motive for betrayinghis country was greed, pure and simple.That defendant was by all accounts a brilliant scientist makes this crime especiallytroubling. His statement to the undercover FBI agent that anything “that the U.S. has done inspace I’ve seen” was not hyperbole. His statement that the classified information to which hehad been granted access was “in my head” was not exaggeration. His intellectual and creativegifts put him in positions of trust, which in turn literally opened for him secret vaults of information related to the national defense of the United States. As defendant himself put it tothe FBI’s undercover employee (“UCE”): “I had all the nuclear clearances. I had a whole raft of . . . special access [clearances].”Defendant’s experience in the space arena was diverse and impressive. His relatedaccomplishments in the field were matched by few, if anyone else, on the planet. He served onthe White House National Space Council. He was a member of the Synthesis Group, aPresidential Commission chartered to plan the Space Exploration Initiative. He worked as a
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physicist in the “O Division,” Advanced Concepts Group, at the United States Department of Energy’s (“DOE”) Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, where he designed highly advancedlightweight satellite technology for application under Department of Defense sponsorship.Between approximately 1994-1997, during his tenure at DOE, the defendant was assigned to theoffice of the Secretary of Defense, Strategic Defense Initiative Organization, later renamed theBallistic Missile Defense Organization, also known colloquially as “Star Wars.” In addition,defendant performed research and development into highly advanced technology at the UnitedStates Research Laboratory, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, and the NationalAeronautics and Space Administration.The great responsibility that came with gaining access to this treasure trove of information and secrets was not lost on defendant. Throughout his career, he signed ClassifiedInformation Nondisclosure Agreements in which he made it clear that he understood that thedirect or indirect unauthorized disclosure by him of classified information “could causeirreparable injury to the United States, and be used to advantage by a foreign nation,” and pledged to protect this information. In retrospect, it was a pledge that he never intended to keep.During the undercover operation, the defendant admitted to the UCE that over the years he hadillegally secreted classified materials in safe deposit boxes because he knew the informationwould become valuable one day. Specifically, in a face-to-face meeting with the UCE onOctober 19, 2009, defendant stated he had two safe deposit boxes, “one here and for further safeness . . . I have one in California . . . in La Jolla . . . It’s all backed up out of state.” Heexplained that he had “had that box there since, you know, the nineties. You know so it’s beenthere for awhile.” When asked by the UCE why he kept the safe deposit boxes, Nozette replied-2-
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that he wanted to protect the contents – classified information pertaining to a DoD satellite program including “all the technical specifications,” – from “anybody coming into my house andsearching it.” Nozette also told the UCE that he had just been to La Jolla and “got some stuff off of [the safe deposit box].” Nozette also had illegally stored a vast amount of classified information on his homecomputers and was eager to provide more than the basic information the UCE was asking for during their October 19, 2009 meeting. To accommodate all the information the defendantasked the UCE for a computer thumb drive with more memory. The defendant stated:UCE:. . . if there’s anything you want me to take back to the homeland personally, let’s show it to me while we’re here together. This would be agood op-, time and opportunity for you to do so. NOZETTE:Um, do you have, um a larger coded memory stick?UCE:Okay, alright, well. . . NOZETTE:I need at least an eight gig one.In the end, defendant’s unraveling was due to the fact that he always wanted more.Despite his exceedingly comfortable lifestyle in Chevy Chase, Maryland, he had expensive tasteswhich stretched him financially. He thus chose to supplement his income unlawfully. As thisCourt is aware, in January 2009, defendant pleaded guilty to a two-count Information charginghim with conspiracy to defraud the government and tax evasion (U.S. v. Nozette, Crim. No. 08-371 (PLF)). As part of his plea, defendant admitted that he conspired to defraud the governmentfrom 2000 through 2006 of over $265,000 through the intentional submission of false claims bythe non-profit entity through which he conducted business with the government. Defendant alsoadmitted that from 2001 through 2005, he wilfully evaded over $200,000 in federal taxes. It was-3-
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